My Girl
by ToxicTenshi
Summary: He saved her, a little girl. What he didn't expect was for her to become his little shadow. Since when does anything become attached to him? How exactly do you take care of kids? Man, he wasn't cut out for this shi-crap...Rated M just in case. Daryl and little OC.
1. PreviewPrologue

**I...I'm back! AHAHAHAHAha..ahem...anyways, back. With...this..idea, so yeah, tell me what you think and I may make this a story. Just a bundle o' Fluff basically. **

**And for my old readers, if any read this, I apologize for my absence. It was for multiple reasons. Hopefully I can do better this time. Meh. **

* * *

Huge green eyes peered up at her savoir with the utmost shock and amazement. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, clouding the ever-green irises.

Her situation had been dire. A young child surrounded by several walkers, at least eight, that slowly closed in on what they saw to be their next meal. Small but alive and pulsing with the bloody yet delicious taste of living flesh they so craved. What were the chances of her survival?

None.

Zip.

That was until _he _came…_her savoir_, a man with harsh yet oh so lovely blue eyes, the man that held her close and protected her.

He saved her!

It was then she decided...that this man with the blue eyes wouldn't leave her sight.

"Daddy." she spoke.

….

….

"The fuck...?"

* * *

**So yeah, this was a little preview. I do love romance stories with Daryl but I also like a bit of fluff. What do you think?**

**And I've seen all there is so far of the seasons. I HAVE NOT however read the comics...I know a few things about them but not too much sooo...there's that. **

**Review please.**

**OH! And on a side note, when I thought of the title I seriously had My Girl by The Temptations stuck in my head. I love that song.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Wow. First chapter already! I had planned on only making it a few pages, like 3 or 4 but it ended up being about 10. Go me! **

**Anyways, I hope this makes up for the first upload. It was small being a preview and all (rhyyyymmme) but this should be muuuuch better. **

**And here we have it, chapter one of My Girl! Hope ya enjoy.**

* * *

_It smelled...a lot. And it was growing worse and worse._

_It was...rotting, yes...that was the word...__**rotting.**_

_What should I do about it? Should I leave? But then, what about the monsters outside? But then again...I need to find food. _All that was here she had already eaten or had rotted, like what was in front of her_. _She shuddered.

Speaking of that...why was she not crying? Shouldn't she be crying?_ Maybe it was...shock...yeah, that's what daddy called it. He says you don't get sad for a while because you're so surprised at whatever happened that it may not come till later...the crying that is...the being sad._

She sniffled a bit...her nose was getting runny. And her stomach was grumbling too...yes, the food matter still needed be solved...on top of that-

_I need to pee...but..._

She gazed up to across the room where the bathroom was located. The door was shut, not that that was a problem...she was certainly tall enough to reach the door knob. _I grew bunches this year, and I'm a big girl! Daddy said so! _

But again that wasn't why she didn't go there.

It was the rotting corpse of the monst-Dave...that sat against the door, gaze wide, head tilted to the side, blood matted the side of his head where the bullet had exited. His skin was dirty and pasty white, which really contrasted all the blood around his mouth from...

..._when he bit daddy._

She once again trembled and shrunk in on herself a bit more and looked at the other corpse...the one that lay in front of her.

"Daddy."

* * *

Four men, Rick, Glenn, Theodore or T-dog as he preferred, and Daryl marched toward some fences on the outer part of the city, three of them carrying guns, one carrying a gun as well as his beloved crossbow, his preferred method of walker-killing. The guns they held onto tightly, as if someone would steal them. Since an attempt had already been made not an hour ago who could blame them? That was some unnecessary crap to deal with, mainly for poor Glenn who was the "hostage" in that situation.

Though all, Rick more so, were glad it ended without bloodshed. Bloodshed due to walkers was certainly enough.

That thought stayed in his mind as they came to where the van SHOULD have been.

"Where the hells our van?" questioned Daryl, crossbow slung over his shoulder.

"We left it right there, who would take it?!" Glenn asked, panic easily creeping in.

"Merle." Rick answered right off with hate.

All looked at each other with the dreaded realization-

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl confirmed.

Rick's eyes hardened and he turned toward the others.

"Then we have to go back on foot. Whatever vengeance he has planned will not be good and I am NOT going to lose my family again." With that he turned and began to stride away, a man on a mission till-

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

"What the hell?" T-dog said.

Glenn looked at each of them with nervousness. "It sounded like a scream."

Rick went into cop mode in an instant and beckoned the others, "Come on!"

The four men rushed to the side, where a nearby alleyway had echoed the shriek of terror. Running down the long, trash covered corridor they raised their weapons up, preparing for any walker that may pop up. As Rick started to dash around the corner he was halted by Daryl who roughly grabbed his arm.

"Hold on man!" He paused, glancing around the corner, "You itching to be walker bait or somethin?"

All followed suit and discreetly glanced around the corner. It was then they realized the reason Daryl had halted them. Five or so walkers passed by at the end of corridor, seemingly in a rush to get to the source of the scream they had heard earlier. The speed the walkers were going and the eagerness in their posture told them that they had found the source.

All men felt dread, fearing the worst. For what was worse than trying to help someone only to come too late?

"They're sure headin for something." Daryl muttered.

"Problem is, should we check out that something?" T-dog said hushed with a glance at his companions.

Glenn nodded, "Yeah, I mean...what if we're too late? Look at all those walkers! A-and we need to get back to camp!"

"_AHHHHHH!_"

"Sounded like a kid." Daryl said.

Rick lightly glared at the others and began to rush down the alley, "Does that answer your question?"

Glenn with a quick guilty face followed after Daryl and Rick who had immediately moved on. With a shake of his head T-dog followed with a mutter of, "I'm too old for this."

As they rounded the next corner of where the walkers had passed they all paused for a second and scooted back behind a nearby dumpster as to not be seen. Not that they really had to worry. The walkers seem dead set (ha!) on getting to the screamer.

Several walkers piled against each other, trying to push each other aside to crawl under a garage door that was lifted by at least a foot. Snarls and groans could be heard, and Glenn plugged his nose in disgust because of smell the corpses were emitting, which became worse as they rubbed off each other.

"Puss." Daryl couldn't help but mutter.

"Whatever they want is in there." Rick stated, lowering his gun. "We need a plan."

"Well we sure as hell can't charge in there." T-dog said.

"Yeah…" Glenn agreed.

"Let's send the Chinaman in." Daryl suggested.

"Yea-HEY!" Glenn cried.

"We're not going to charge in there like mad men!" Rick hissed.

"Yeah, cuz we got enough of those." T-dog couldn't help but reply, leaning his gun on his shoulder.

Rick stood there in silence a moment, trying come up with a plan and get rid of the conflicting feelings he had. Worry was seeping through him for his family and whatever Merle may do, yet he could not rush off when someone was obviously in danger. No matter if the world had gone to hell, it wouldn't be right. He would always be a cop, always do what's right, especially if it was a kid like Daryl said...the scream certainly did sound like it. The thought of Carl surrounded by walkers made his heart nearly stop.

Daryl stared at the man who had basically sentenced his brother to death, feeling the hate still rumbling in his chest. Still, he couldn't help but also feel slight respect at this man's obvious skill at taking charge and willingness to help others. _Even my damn brother..._not that he'd admit that, _fucking damn cop..._

"Maybe, I can distract them..." Glenn started. "Yeah, I'll just run back down the alley and you guys-"

"No no, we can't risk getting separated now. We have to get back to camp as soon as possible." Rick countered.

"Here." Daryl said with a grunt, shoving his gun in T-dog's chest. "I'll take here." He gestured at the fire escape that led to the roof of the building next to them. Climbing the dumpster to aid getting the fire escape he added, "These buildings are closely packed...just gotta jump to the roof of that garage and find a way in."

Glenn cut in, "Well shouldn't I-?"

"Your pansy ass can only handle so much." Daryl said. Making sure his crossbow was securely around his shoulder he grabbed a step of the fire escape's ladder and started to climb.

"You get whoever is in there and get out...we'll distract that group of walkers if need be and we'll meet you back at the gates where the van was." Rick explained as Daryl ascended. He was hesitant since this still risked separation but what else could they do? A child's life was at stake.

"Yeah yeah, I got you. The lot shouldn't see me anyway if I'm sneakin in from the roof." With venom he added, "Just make sure your dumb ass doesn't leave me like you did my brother." Daryl couldn't help but send the cop a glare at the last part.

Rick nodded. "You have my word."

With a nod the hunter continued, his feet making a soft _clank clank_ as they stepped up each bar.

As he climbed over the top Glenn muttered, "Sure we should let him do this?"

"Better than playing tag with a couple of rotting freaks." T-dog supplied.

Rick nodded in agreement. "He's right. If he goes that way he may be able to sneak in without too much trouble…go that way," he gestured toward the semi-open yet packed garage door, "and he may have a dozen or more on his tail."

Leaving their sight he landed on the roof, gazing across to see the roof of the garage not far away. Walking over he leaned to peer down at the alley way between the two buildings. Not to his surprise there were a few more walkers there, heading toward the dog pile that had formed.

He huffed in disgust and annoyance before backing up some.

With one last check to secure his crossbow he bolted, easily jumping across the gap and landing on the roof of the garage with a tumble. Getting up he could still hear the moans and groans of the dead down below.

_Persistent fuckers..._

This part of the garage, while easy to jump to, was slightly lower than the roof he jumped from. However before he could contemplate how to get in he was relieved to see a wall with a window on it. It seemed to be, and hopefully was, an upper level perhaps apartment attached to the garage building. So slowly and steadily he walked up to it, nearly letting out a big sigh of relief when he realized it was unlocked.

"Here goes nothing..." he muttered to himself.

Lowering one leg he touched the tiled floor of what appeared to be a lounge room. There was a TV with a couch in front of it and a coffee table. Behind that and right next to the window he was using to enter was a long counter with a sink, coffee maker, and other assortment of things. There were also two machines of which he presumed had food and soda. They appeared to be busted and empty. Tons of wrappers and bottles were piled on the floor in front of it.

Shaking his head to stop observation mode, he hoisted his other leg over.

"Shit!" he cried as his shoulder nearly knocked over a water jug that had been in the corner by the window. After his hands steadied it he looked around more.

It was then it hit him...the smell. A smell he was all too familiar with that this point.

A dead body, two in fact. He was surprised he hadn't noticed. One that had clearly been a walker had a bloody clotted wound at the side of his head...a gunshot by the looks of it. He also had a name-tag...**Dave.** Someone had gotten him...but...

_Not in time...poor fucker, _he thought, glancing at the other corpse that lay in front of the counters. I didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. One dead walker with blood and flesh still stuck in his teeth, shot...and the other body, a rather large tear in the shoulder and a gunshot in the head as well.

One got obviously got bit, turned, and then bit his friend. His friend in turn and in defense shot him before killing himself to prevent becoming one of the undead.

He leaned down and took the gun from the sorry bastard's hand.

Empty.

Shaking his head he tossed it aside and walked over to the first corpse.

"Move over Dave." He said, shoving the corpse out of the way to open the door. Opening it roughly to move the body more he closed the door right after seeing it was only a bathroom.

_That leaves..._he walked over, kicking some cans out of the way and turned the corner to the portion of room was out a bit. It held a door to what he assumed to be the lower section. He'd better get his crossbow out for this one and that's exactly what he did.

With slow steps he walked to the door, leaning his shoulder on it. Breathing hushed, he then pressed his ear against it, straining to hear any signs of the life he had come to save. However he couldn't hear anything of sorts, just the groans of the infected.

Daryl, and he'd never ever EVER admit it, was a bit nervous.

Was he too late? Had they gotten the child?

"AHHHHH! NO!"

Well, that answered his question.

Daryl quickly pushed off the door and opened it, pointing his weapon out immediately. He realized then that the door led out to a small bit of grated metal lift, which only went about 5 feet before leading to stairs that went out a ways and led to the floor of what was easily identified as a garage of a car repair shop. He could see the big letters painted on the wall that said,

**Dave's Car Repair**

_Well, the owner is obviously out..._

But what had him on alert was the several walkers in the wide room. Growling and snarling they all were crowded in one corner, reaching up towards the top of a high shelf which contained parts and supplies, most already knocked down. Obviously zombies didn't need car repair parts or fucking cars, so what else could they be desperately reaching for but-

_The kid! I was right! _

Daryl could hardly believe it himself. It really was a kid! A girl! She looked rather small, 4-6 years old maybe. It was hard to tell. She was perched on the high metal shelf, huddled with her arms around her legs, smothering herself as much as she could into the corner. The filthy, grimy zombie hands were dangerously close to snagging her and she was just far enough not to get grabbed. It would take one stretch for one of them to-

"AHHH! NO! LET GO LET GO!"

He sprang into action, shooting down the walker that had grabbed the girl's leg. Rushing down the steps he took out two more that had yet to join the frenzy. Quickly grabbing those arrows he turned to address the others whose attention he had gained. They snarled in excitement at a reachable meal and eagerly started toward him. He shot two more easily, leaving at least six to deal with; four that lumbered toward him, two that were too focused on the girl to do anything else.

"One." A corpse fell. "Two." Another joined it. "Three and f-OUR!" He cried out as the forth tripped with outstretched arms, landing on him with a thud. His beloved crossbow clattered to the ground away from him. That didn't faze the monster one bit and it snapped its jaws open and closed in attempt to eat his face off.

Growling he grabbed the monster's neck tightly, "Fucker!" And with that he pulled out his hunting knife and shoved it into the walker's skull with a _crack _and_ squish. _

Not caring about the blood that dripped onto his shirt he let out a breath. His relief was short lived however as the other two turned from the girl to him with growls.

Daryl pushed at the body on him with a huff of aggravation, finding the body rather large and heavy.

_This bastard is huge! _He thought, trying once more to shove the corpse off of him. Seeing he wouldn't get it off in time before the other two walkers reached him he ripped out the knife from the dead one's skull with a hard tug.

"Well? Come on!" he shouted at them.

Wow, how intimidating he must look while being crushed by a fatass corpse, even if he had a hunting knife. His brother would be laughing his ass off if he could see him now!

"Come on!"

The cracking sound of metal meeting skull sounded as one of the walkers fell to the ground with a **thud**.

Standing there much to his surprise was Glenn, wielding what looked to be a steel pipe.

The other walker had turned by now to hiss at the Asian. Its matted, stringy hair stuck to its blood and dirt covered face.

Although he looked frightened Glenn managed to suck in a breath and launch himself at the monster with a cry. Its head swung to the side when the pipe connected with its face with a sickening _crack_. This corpse joined the others on the floor, dead.

_Huff...huff..._Glenn breathed heavily. His hands turned pale white with how hard he was clenching the pipe. His eyes stayed glued to the two walkers he just decimated.

"Damn Chinaman, you do have balls."

Glenn blinked and looked at Daryl. "Wha- I told you I'm Korean!"

"Same difference..." he said, and with a great groan he managed to push the hulk of a zombie off.

"Come on! No it's not-" _Sigh. _"Forget it." He wrung his hands around the pipe before holding it with one hand. "Did you find them?"

Daryl, who had stood up by now, gestured toward the shelf while making sure his crossbow was undamaged.

Glenn turned. "What are pointing-Oh! Um...hi there." Glenn awkwardly said with a slight wave to the child. She must have been quite the climber to get up there.

"We're not going to hurt you," Glenn continued, "...you want us to help you down from there?"

The girl had hidden her face in her legs, her arms wound tightly around her knees. She didn't respond.

"Uhhh..." mumbled Glenn who was unsure of what to do. He glanced at Daryl for help.

Daryl snorted and walked up to the shelf. They didn't have time to _coax_ her down like a frightened kitty. "Come on girl. We took care of them."

Still nothing.

Resisting the urge to pull his hair in frustration (hey, he wasn't a kid person) he calmed down. He didn't want her freaking out and attracting more of the hungry bastards.

"Come on hun," he said in a soft voice that surprised even him-Glenn sure as hell looked shocked. He held out a hand. "The monsters are gone...took care of 'em with this bad boy." He jostled his crossbow higher with his shoulder so it was more visible.

That was the ticket. Slowly her little head lifted, small eyes peeking out from a curtain of brown hair.

Daryl spared a glance at Glenn who nodded, _Go on, it's working!_

Unsure still he went ahead and took the crossbow off his shoulder and held it in front of him to make it fully visible.

"Yeahhh uhh...it's a Horton Scout HD 125. Small but convenient, cuz of the lighter draw weight..." _What the hell am I saying? Like a kid gives a shit about crossbows!_

But it seemed he'd be proved wrong when the little girl's head went up fully. Her gaze was zoned on his bow with surprising intensity. This gave him a little bit more confidence so he continued,

"So yeah uh...light weight with 250 fps...uhh...talon custom field trigger, Realtree HD camo, Dial-A-Range trajectory compensator, adjustable stock, MicroFlight arrow-groove, and ambidextrous safety!" It was funny how rushed and excited his voice sounded that even Glenn couldn't keep the smile off his face at the man's passion. "Yep, this baby'll suit anyone, even the small you."

It was worth it most would say, to see the girl's head fully emerge, a smile appearing on her little face. It was the perfect picture of innocent delight.

Noticing this he shuffled forward in front of the shelf. Daryl felt the corners of his mouth quirk up a little...but he was NOT smiling. Hell no. "Ya like that huh? Yeah...well I could maybe teach ya how to use it. I'd have to help you hold it at first of course, but with those muscles of yours I'm sure you'd get it in no time."

There. That was it, a giggle, he'd heard it...and by the way Glenn was smiling, so had he.

Slinging it back over he held out his arms, "Come on hun."

She appeared to be willing to go, no uncertainty or fear present in her gaze. At least...not at him…

"AHHH!"

"DARYL!"

**SQUELCH.**

Take that! He took care of the sorry bastard that had tried to sneak up and tear his neck out. They didn't need to worry, his senses now a days were always on the high and no rotting fucker would sneak up on him.

It did however shake him out of the coaxing stupor, reminding him they were NOT in a safe spot.

"We gotta go."

"Yeah, there's still some out-"And once again the girl shrieked as a downed but not dead walker pulled Glenn down by the ankle, causing him to stumble. The man let out a yelp and Daryl rushed forward to help his companion.

"Fuck!" he shouted, shooting the walker in the skull.

Grabbing his arm he helped the ex-pizza delivery boy up who with a shaken expression looked at him, "We gotta go.", he repeated Daryl's earlier statement.

A crash answered in confirmation and it seemed the dog piling zombies' work had paid off. The semi-garage had been forced up more by the pile of very hungry walkers which were now crawling through more easily and faster.

"Fuck fuck fuck!" Daryl cursed without thought and turned toward the shelf. "Come on hun! We need to leave!"

She peeked up again with the previous shyness, hesitation once again present at the worst time.

"DARYL!" Glenn shouted as he used the pipe to shove a walker away that had thrown itself at him. Luckily this gave them some time as it fell into the ones behind it, knocking them all over like dominoes.

Daryl took this chance. "COME ON HUN!"

She quickly glanced with a frightened expression at the walkers coming in and back at him. Any hesitation she had before had flown out the window, and she leaped off the high shelf. Daryl almost stumbled but managed to catch her tightly to assure she didn't fall.

...

And he found himself captured. Captured by the greenest eyes he had ever seen...

They were bright, innocent, glowing, and beautiful even with the tears that began to cloud them. It reminded him of the greenest trees of the forests he hunted in back home...like the grass he'd lay and take naps in...like-

"Daddy."

...

...

...

"The fuck?"

* * *

**And there we leave off with a familiar scene. I do hope Daryl didn't seem too out of character. It's just how I pictured him acting around a kid, awkwardly at first...yeahhh. **

**I also hope I got Daryl's crossbow type right. I looked up some descriptions and what not. Whaaaatever. It works. **

**So please please review, thus encouraging me to get chapter 2 out soon! And just as long perhaps!**

**Bye bye lovelies.**

**RANDOM QUOTE, NAME IF YOU KNOW WHERE IT'S FROM: "Don't you get it?! You see the hat?! I am MISSES. NESBIT, HAHAHAHAHA!"**


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